Wayward kicking again cost the Swans any chance of winning in a disappointing 16 point loss to the Tigers at Neil French Oval on Saturday.
Disappointing for the Swans not to win the game but plenty of positives to come out of the match.
Curra opened the game with a 44 point to nil first quarter and to be honest they should never have lost from there. But to the Tigers credit they slowly turned the game around and kept coming and by the last break the margin was reduced to 10 points.
Incredibly the Tigers had had 10 less scoring shots than the wayward Swans by that stage of the match but their straight kicking of 7.2 had kept them well and truly in the contest.
The last quarter was the Tigers best and they landed another 4 goals to the Swans 1 and in the end won by 16 points 11.8 to 7.17. The tale is in the figures and if you don’t put good sides away when you have your chances they will hurt you.
The good news for the Swans is they again showed at times how good they can be. All that’s missing from where the young Swans are at right now to where they want to finish is consistency and accuracy.
Both are attainable and the challenge is now to put that all together when they take on the Hawks on Sunday in a do or die semi.
Goal Kickers: K. Goodman 2, T. Fechner 2, J. Sim, M. Wheeler, L. Hope-Shackley
Best Players: A. McDonald, J. Sim, B. Hill, J. Ruzzier, D. Bycroft
The Swans Reserves started the day in second spot and with only a few minutes left on the clock a goal to Brodie Youd seemingly put the Swans in front and set up a 2nd semi final spot but it all changed in the blink of eye with the ball being called back for a late or high tackle. To make matters worse for the Swans a bit of old fashioned push and shove ensued and the odd yellow card found its way out of the umpires back pocket. All the while the clock was ticking and with it Curra’s chance of playing on the following Saturday instead of the Sunday.
But the game wasn’t won or lost in those frantic moments. The first quarter was where the real story was with the Tigers opening a 20 point break before the Swans decided to have a go. After the first break it was game on and Curra basically had the better of the Tigers for most of the remainder of the match. When Raymond Mathewson goaled early in the last to reduce the margin to 5 points the Swans should have gone on with it. The Tigers weren’t about to lie down though and a thrilling final quarter was had in a perfect rehearsal for finals football this week.
Goal Kickers: B. Youd 2, S. Lindgren, T. Neal, S. Townsend, R. Mathewson
Best Players: R. Mathewson, J. Ryan, G. Bamford, T. Rial
Last Modified on 25/08/2011 23:18